Meganekko and the Chimera
by Nehszriah
Summary: Slayers meets Beauty and the Beast in a story that has endless meaning... I guess. Ah, just come read please.
1. Ichi

I do not own Slayers! I do not own Beauty and the Beast! All my writer's mind did was put two and two together as I was working on a film analysis project about the Disney animated version. This fiction is to definitely incorporate elements of original French fairy tale and Disney movie skewing so that writing this won't take forever and a freakin' day and force me to involve characters I barely know anything about. Characters from Slayers are apt to some persona changing to help fit the story, but basic elements are to be kept. Let me repeat: this is not based on the movie or the book singularly, I have not read a spoof like this one before (so I am not copying someone else's idea) and I do not own either of the Beauty and the Beast story versions or the Slayers anime/manga. Thank you, that is all.

* * *

**Meganekko and the Chimera**

_Once upon a time, there was a nobleman who was all alone in the world. His parents had died when he was very young and left unto him a vast fortune and a castle full of caring servants. Yet, even though the servants all had good hearts and raised the young man well, he remained a bitter, spoiled brat._

_Then, one snowy day, one of the maids found a beggar outside the home. The castle was in the middle of a blizzard so the young maid took him into the house and brought him before her master. The old beggar asked for food and shelter for until the storm passed and offered a single white rose in payment. All the servants thought it well enough, being there were no more roses from the gardens anymore and it was only a single poor beggar, yet the young lord believed otherwise._

"_Get out of my house!" he roared. He had not notion to help anyone, even the blind beggar. The young nobleman regretted his refusal though, for immediately afterwards the beggar's guise melted away to reveal the most handsome enchanter that there ever was._

"_You shall pay for refusing me," the red-clad enchanter said. "Your body is to be fused with the cold stone of your heart for always and eternity." Aiming his hand at the young man, he instantly cast the spell, causing the lord's body to painfully transform into stone._

"_If you do wish to become human again, you have to find true love. Not only do you have to love her, but she has to love you in return, despite your appearance," the enchanter added._

_The enchanter thus left, leaving the white rose as a reminder of the young noble's cursed life. It was an enchanted rose, therefore blooming forever and never showing signs of death. The years went by and the young man grew deeper and deeper into despair. The most loyal of his servants all passed on into the afterlife and his castle abandoned by all but himself. All this time he lived on, the same as the night he was cursed. His castle became legend and folklore, centered around his beastly stone appearance. Not a soul came by the property, even as a dare. Over time his hopes for finding love eventually became lost to him; for who in all the land could ever learn to love a beast?

* * *

_

"Daddy, I do not like this road," the young woman said. It was late autumn in the mountainous countryside and she was traveling home by horsecart with her elder sister and father from a nearby town. She sat next to her sister who drove the cart whilst their father rode on his black horse Gaston separate from the cart.

"Don't be silly Amelia!" her father, Phil, laughed. "This road is perfectly safe for travel. Those silly rumors about Graywords Castle being occupied by a beast made of stone are simply to scare off the weak-minded and superstitious."

"I know that Daddy," Amelia sighed. "I just do not think of this area as safe."

"You should listen to Father," her sister Garcia said as she snapped the horse's reins. "He knows what he is getting us into."

"By the sound of your voice, I would almost expect you to be agreeing with him for a change Garcia," Amelia said slyly. Garcia just turned red and concentrated fully on the earthen road.

"Girls, I shall be right back," Phil said. "Hurry on without me. I should not take too long."

"Sure thing Father," Garcia said blandly as Phil directed his horse to double back. The horse galloped away until he was safely out of sight.

_Good thing I saw that clump of rose bushes earlier_, Phil said to himself as he rushed his horse down the road. _Those poor things look as if they are going to die soon. If I have any luck, there will be some nice ones left and I can bring them home for Amelia and Garcia. They both do love roses._

"Whoa Gaston!" Phil cried out as he brought his horse to a stop. There was the rose garden. Phil dismounted and looked about. He could not see any sign of life. In the distance was a castle that appeared dilapidated and uninhabited. Figuring that it was just the abandoned Graywords Castle and that everything was fine, Phil went and plucked a deep red rose from a nearby bush. He examined the flower in the afternoon sun. It was beautiful, having not a single blemish of the recent cold weather upon it.

"What are you doing?" a deep voice suddenly yelled. Phil turned around to see a man hidden in a cloak, glaring directly at him.

"I am sorry sir," Phil said apologetically. "I did not know..."

"How dare you!" the man cut in. He forcefully grabbed Phil's collar and looked at him straight in the eyes. "You are trespassing and stealing. What do you have to say?"

Phil did not know what to say. All he did was stare with fright into the eyes of the stranger. They were literally set in stone.

"Fine, to the tower with you," the man snarled. Phil pleaded with the man, offering to pay him for the rose, but it was too late. The man shooed away Gaston, dragged Phil into the castle he had thought to be abandoned and threw him into a tower prison cell. As the man stormed off, his identity flashed through Phil's mind.

_This must be the Beast of Graywords Castle_, he though. _The legend is true! My life is over..._

**80808080808080808**

"I wonder what is keeping Daddy," Amelia said as she looked out the window of her home into the evening darkness. Garcia was reluctantly cooking in the kitchen as she popped her head out of the swinging door.

"He is probably lost again," she said unenthusiastically. "He'll be here once he gets hungry enough."

"He has never been out this long though," Amelia said sadly as she went over by the bookshelf and picked up a book. She sat in an armchair by the roaring fireplace, put on a pair of reading glasses and started to read.

"Get your nose out of that book," Garcia scolded. "It is not right for a woman to read."

"Since when have you been like this?" Amelia snapped. "Always telling me what to do and how to act, as if you are Mother! It is not like the Garcia I know. The Garcia I know is just a miscreant with a severe problem with authority."

"Whether you like it or not, I care for my little sister," Garcia said as she walked into the room with a plate of mashed potatoes. She placed it on the wooden table in the dining area and scoffed. "I hear Gaston's whinny. Father must be home."

"Daddy!" Amelia cried out as she went outside to greet her father. Her spirits were quickly doused, for all she saw was her father's spooked horse without his rider.

"So, is he coming in for dinner?" Garcia asked as Amelia bolted back into the house. Without a word, Amelia grabbed her cloak and rushed back outside. Once she mounted the horse, she snapped the reins and rode off into the night, leaving Garcia at home to fume over having to cook a whole dinner and not have anyone else eat it.

**80808080808080808**

Amelia rode faster and faster into the bleak forest, her mind racing as fast as Gaston was. Her father must have been hurt or captured in order for Gaston to arrive home without him. She directed the horse to take her to the place where Phil was. Warily, the horse understood and took her up and down the various mountain passes that led to the crumbling castle.

"He can't be here," she said out loud, gazing in amazement at the grandeur of the castle exterior in the wan moonlight.

"Pfft," Gaston replied. _Sure is!_

"Stay right here," Amelia said softly as she dismounted Gaston and left him by the front steps. The horse whinnied in understanding reply and Amelia walked in through the front door.

The castle was so enormous, Amelia could barely believe her eyes. The hallways were tall with vaulted ceilings and many a window stain-glassed. Demonic paintings and gargoyles decorated the halls. It was frightening, looking around the castle for signs of her father. Finally, she came to a spiral staircase that went up into a tower. Grasping the torch by the entryway, Amelia gathered her courage and walked up the stairs, not sure to what she would find.

"Daddy?" she called out when she reached the top of the stairs. She seemed to be in a room with jail cells in it. This could not have been where her father was.

"Amelia!" Phil coughed. Immediately, Amelia rushed over to one of the cell doors. There was her father, scared as he could have ever been in his life.

"Who did this to you Daddy?" Amelia asked. Phil cut her off.

"Get yourself out of here!" he ordered. "Get away from this castle before he finds you!" Phil then started to cough and wheeze in the dank cell.

"Before...?" Amelia started. She could not finish her sentence, for the torch was whipped out of her hand and thrown across the room. The light was doused in a puddle of stagnant rainwater in the corner by an opening in the stone wall. Amelia looked over into the darkness. A man stood in the shadows, straying from the moonlight that shone through a hole in the ramshackle roof.

"Who are you?" the man's deep voice bellowed.

"I am this man's daughter sir," Amelia said. "Please let him go. My sister and I have dinner at home and are worried about him. Please sir..."

"I cannot do that," the man replied curtly. "This man is a trespasser and a thief"

"My father would never steal on purpose!" Amelia retorted.

"The fact is that he stole from my garden and should therefore be locked up," the man snarled. "Unless you want to take his place, I cannot let him free."

"Can you not hear his cough?" Amelia said over her father's coughing fit. "He is getting sick from this horrid tower! You have to let him go!"

"Then will you take his place?" the man asked. "If I let him go, you have to stay here forever in his place."

Amelia did not know what to do. Should she take her father's place or not? Amelia pondered the situation, before making up her mind.

"Step into the light," she meekly requested. She thought that she might as well see the face of the man that was to keep her prisoner.

Slowly, the man forced himself to step into the moonlight. His cloak hood was down, unlike before when he had imprisoned Phil. Amelia could see the steel of his hair gleaming in the light. His granite skin was as grey as a cloudy day and his blue sapphire eyes pierced her soul with cruel and ruthless spite. A wicked rapier sat at his hip and taunted Amelia's heart with its very presence.

Amelia gasped. Every story she had heard about the Graywords Castle immediately came back to her. According to local legend, the castle was supposedly inhabited by a beastly man with a face of stone to match his heart. Her neighbor claimed that her great-grandmother was once a servant of the monster and said that in the past one hundred years, he had not changed a single bit. He was a being to be feared, for none that went near the house ever returned to their homes alive.

Yet Amelia heard her father's coughing and stood up bravely. She walked over into the moonlight until she was standing right in front of the man. She looked him right into his eyes, his cold eyes of ice, and took a deep breath.

"Agreed."

"No! Amelia!" Phil exclaimed. The man went over to the cell door and pulled Phil out. "Amelia! Leave me here! Let my daughter go!"

"It was her choice," the man said coldly. He dragged Phil out of the house and threw him at Gaston, who was still waiting by the steps. Phil went and tried to get to the tall oaken door before it closed, but he barely missed it. He pounded and banged on the door, trying to get it to open, but it was no use. Instead, Phil hopped onto Gaston's back and rode off towards town, bent on finding some help.

Amelia cried as she watched her father ride away from the window of the tower. She knew that she would most likely never see him again and that she would die there in the castle. When Phil and Gaston were out of sight, she collapsed into the stone wall and wept even more. She only stopped when the room lit up, signaling a lit torch was near.

"Go away," she sniffled. The man looked at her with caution. It had been over seventy years since the last of his female servants ran away to the nearby village. It was barely imaginable to him now that a woman was to be his prisoner. It was useless to think that she would break his curse, being how she came to stay there. Sighing, he figured that he might as well be courteous with her, since he could not have his only human companion completely despise him.

"Follow me," he said grimly. Amelia looked at him through her bleary eyes, quite perplexed.

"Why...?"

"Do you want to stay here in the tower?"

"No..."

"Then follow me."

Amelia obediently followed him down the staircase and into the hall. In the torchlight, the whole castle appeared to be different. Amelia saw the shadows dance across the artwork, revealing gruesome images in the canvases. There were also portraits and busts all around the hallways as well. She was amazed at her surroundings as she caught things she did not see earlier.

"This castle is your home now," the man said, breaking the silence. "You are allowed to go anywhere you wish. Anywhere except the West Wing."

"What's in the W...?"

"It is forbidden!" the man roared. Amelia immediately quieted herself as he turned around and looked her dead in the eye. Those eyes frightened her more than anything.

_Please God_, she thought to herself as the man turned around again. _Please do not let me die. Do not let him kill me._

"Here we are," the man solemnly said as he came to a stop by a door. He opened the door slowly and showed Amelia inside. It was a plain bedroom with a four-poster bed, wardrobe and vanity mirror. It was very dusty inside the room, as if there had not been anyone in it for years.

"Is this where I am going to stay?" Amelia asked.

"Yes," the man said as he lit some candles with the flame of the torch. "In an hour, you are to join me for dinner in the dining hall."

"I don't want dinner," Amelia sighed as she sat down on the bed.

"I never said it was a request," the man snarled. He spun around and stormed out of the room, closing the door behind him. Amelia fell into the mattress and cried some more as the wind howled outside her windowpane, bringing the first snow of winter with it.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Meganekko: Japanese for "pretty girl with glasses" or a hot geekish female, hence Amelia's reading glasses.

My Spoof In General: Yeah, I know everyone who has seen Disney's _Beauty and the Beast _had visuals of Amelia and Zelgadis before their eyes. I know the whole concept might sound cheesy, but I like it all the same. This whole thing is most likely going to seem stupidly humorous to the majority of readers as the story progresses, but remember, I'm over-critical of myself.


	2. Ni

Second chapter up! -heroic stance- I am proud of myself for writing all of this story in such a short amount of time. So pretty much, what I remember from the original story is the basic line, the whole concept of inner beauty and such. That is what I think Disney worked off of to create the animated version that we all see today. The DVD says so and even had a little thing in it about how Walt Disney, before he died, tried to attempt a Beauty and the Beast movie. He could not finish it because it was so bare of a story with only the title characters ever really showing up... hence talking candlesticks and singing teapots for the 1991 version. I do not own rights to Slayers or Beauty and the Beast, only my brain and the interesting ideas that randomly fall out of it.

* * *

At the little village where Phil lived with his daughters, the snow had begun to blow violently in, covering anything that dared go and venture outdoors. Before the worst of the storm had hit, Garcia had walked into town and went to the tavern where she was now sitting, getting drunker and drunker by the moment. 

"I'm telling you Lina," she told a red-headed girl behind the bar. "My father and sister are absolute loons. They're just always so... well you know... themselves." Garcia then hiccuped and nearly fell into her drink.

"Sure Garcia," Lina replied half-heartedly. Lina, the tavern owner and champion marksman of the village, was irritated whenever Garcia was left alone and allowed to wander into her tavern. She near always either created some sort of disturbance or drank almost all of the beer. Tonight, the victim was to be the beer.

"Hey Lina, I'm all done cleaning out the storeroom," said Gourry, Lina's blond-haired business partner and boyfriend as he came up from the basement of the building.

"Good," Lina replied. "Now you can go downstairs and get some more beer. Garcia's here." Gourry moaned unenthusiastically and went back down the staircase.

Suddenly, the door to the tavern burst open, stopping everyone in their tracks. It was Phil, bitten from the cold and half-frozen.

"Someone has to help me," he cried. "Amelia's been captured!"

"Captured? By who?" someone asked.

"The Beast of the Castle!"

"Wait," a random guy laughed. "You can't mean the Beast of _Graywords _Castle, can you?" The whole rest of the tavern chuckled in agreement.

"I am dead serious!" Phil said.

"Yeah. We all know that the castle has been abandoned for ages. As long as any of us here have been alive."

"No... I was in there... the lord... he was made of stone!"

"You really have lost it!" the occupants of the tavern all laughed. Phil sadly went up to the bar to stand next to Garcia.

"You believe me, don't you my daughter?" he asked as he put his hand on Garcia's shoulder, causing her to tip over and fall to the floor.

"Don't worry Phil," Lina smirked as Phil righted his drunken daughter in her chair. "I believe you fully."

"You do?"

"Of course I do," Lina smiled as she cleaned a glass. "My great-grandmother told me stories of when she was a servant there in Graywords Castle. The man is made of pure stone, to match his heart and soul."

"What are we going to do to get my poor Amelia back!" Phil wailed. Lina saw this as the perfect opportunity and banged her fist on the counter.

"Gourry and I will get her back!" she said triumphantly.

"You will?" Phil sniffed.

"We will?" Gourry said, having come back up from the cellar with a keg of beer. "Lina, are you sure we can do that? Think of the danger! Think of the tavern! Who will run the tavern?"

"Think of Amelia!" Lina said. "For a fair sum, we shall rescue Amelia and open the tavern back up in time for nightfall!"

This was about the time when Phil realized that he was in trouble.

**80808080808080808**

Amelia walked down the stairs in her dinner dress she found in the wardrobe. It was a very pretty blue dress, nonetheless she did not wish to wear it to dinner with the stone beast. Indignant with the entire situation, she walked into the dining room to find the lord already seated at one of the sides of the long table, food arranged around his seat and the one across from it.

"Please be seated Miss," he said as he stood and bowed deeply in his elegant attire.

"Lord Graywords, I would enjoy the dinner more if I could sit somewhere else than straight across from you," Amelia said harshly.

"My, I did not think that anyone remembered my name anymore," the man said, quite taken aback.

"Your former servants and their decedents litter the local folklore with tales of your existence," Amelia replied as she sat down. "Everyone in the nearby towns and villages know the Legend of Lord Graywords and His Castle."

"Well, I would like it a whole lot more if you just called me 'Zelgadis' if you do not mind," he replied. "Is there a name that I may call you?"

"Amelia."

"I would like to propose a toast then Amelia," Zelgadis grinned smoothly. "To life and how positively wretched it can be."

"To our wretched lives then," Amelia spat, holding up her wine glass. Everything about this dinner disgusted her. It was all she had to even drink the wine and eat.

All throughout dinner, Amelia noticed something she found to be quite odd. There was no sign of life anywhere other than her and Zelgadis. Amelia had figured that since the Stone Beast Lord became a reality, that there would still be some servants left in his service. Twice during the dinner did Zelgadis walk out of the room and return with something from the kitchen. First it was the pepper and then some more wine. Most noblemen would have servants fetch such items, yet he got them himself. It plagued Amelia's mind all while she picked at her food, her appetite not very prominent.

"I believe I am done eating," Amelia said after a while.

"No appetite?" Zelgadis asked, noticing how she had barely consumed any of the food on her plate.

"How can I have one when I am stuck in here?" Amelia darkly replied as she walked out of the room. It hurt her to be so mean, but this man was just as horrible to look at as the legends made him out to be and he really did creep her out. His clothes and words were smooth, but so was the granite of his cursed skin. Amelia wanted to be able to see the human inside of Zelgadis, but she knew that could never happen. As she made her way back to her room, Amelia wondered where her father and sister were at that very moment.

**80808080808080808**

"Alright there men!" Lina cried out, thrusting her wicked dagger into the air. "Phil here has told us that the Beast of Graywords Castle has captured Amelia! We need to go and rescue her!"

A chorus of agreement came from the crowd of men in the barn gathered around Lina as she stood on her soapbox and yelled out. "If we do not go and rescue Amelia, imagine what horrible things that creature could do to her! There would be no stopping him from taking other village girls as well! We have to fight to protect our families!"

"Don't you think that we are being a bit drastic?" Gourry whispered in Lina's ear. Lina just grinned at her boyfriend.

"I am getting a fee from all of them for being the leader of this escapade. Do you really think expanding my change purse is drastic?"

Gourry sighed as the angry mob of men and Lina went out of the barn and headed over towards the mountain path that led to Graywords Castle. He went back to the tavern so that he could help his cousin Syphiel remove the still-drunk Garcia from the establishment and continue to keep it open while Lina was gone playing greedy hero. Someone had to be there when she came running back home with her tail between her legs and Gourry had found that the role suited him just fine.

**80808080808080808**

Lina and Phil were losing hope. The blizzard that was tearing through the countryside was becoming worse and worse by the minute. All of the village men that were with them had turned back by then, leaving the two of them alone.

"I think we should turn back!" Lina shouted over the wind.

"...but what about my Amelia?" Phil replied.

"We'll go get her when the weather's better!" Lina yelled. "It makes more sense, considering we could die out here and never make it to even think about rescuing her!"

So, with heavy hearts, Lina and Phil went back to the village. Little did they know that the storm that was blanketing their world would prevent them from reaching Amelia for a long time, ultimately blocking every path possible leading up to Graywords Castle. Some villagers even claimed the snowstorm to have been caused by some magical force, almost as if it had wanted Lina and Phil to give up until the spring. Any way that the situation was looked at though, it was certain that Amelia had no hope of being rescued until the sakura trees bloomed and until then, the villagers would just have to sit and wait patiently, no matter how much it unnerved them.

**80808080808080808**

Amelia was bored out of her mind. The snowstorm outside had been going on for days on end and she had nothing to do. There were some books in her room when she had first arrived, yet she had read them all already within the short time that she was there.

So that was how Amelia came to take to wandering the castle. It was large enough for her to constantly explore, always finding something new. She never ran into Zelgadis, which did not surprise her, yet she was always required to have dinner with him. The task of sitting through dinner never pleased Amelia, but Zelgadis allowed her to wander the castle freely as long as she ate that one meal with him. Amelia agreed and sat through the creep's meal and explored all the rest of the day in contentment.

Yet one can go and wander around any place for days and find everything there is to find if they are bored enough. Amelia finally reached that point just as the snowstorm was at its worst. She was looking around the castle when she noticed a hallway that she had never seen before. Thinking nothing of it, she walked down the hall and began her exploring, hoping to find something interesting.

Amelia was shell-shocked when she discovered what was in the room at the end of the hall. Furniture was overturned and broken, some were even hacked into pieces. There was a portrait on the wall of a beautiful young man with black hair and familiar blue eyes that had been slashed in a violent fury. Amelia studied the face in the painting, trying to place where she had seen those eyes.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her own eye, Amelia spied something sitting over by the window. Walking over, she found that it was a pure white rose floating in midair, covered by a clear glass bell jar. It was the most beautiful thing Amelia had seen in the castle yet. She gingerly lifted the jar off the rose and placed it on the floor for safekeeping. As Amelia examined the rose, she felt strongly compelled to touch it.

_I wonder why Lord Graywords would have such a thing_, she thought as her hand went closer to the rose. She was just about to touch a petal when a cold granite hand grasped her forearm.

"What are you doing in here?" Zelgadis snarled, pulling Amelia forcefully away from the flower. He glared at her with viciousness in his eyes that could have killed had they been given the ability.

"I-I'm sorry..." Amelia squeaked. "I..."

"Get out!" Zelgadis yelled angrily.

"... but... I..."

"GET OUT!" Zelgadis roared again. His free right hand found the hilt of his sword as he threw Amelia to the ground. Frightened, Amelia scurried out of the room and towards her own bedchamber.

_I have to get out of this place_, she thought as she grabbed her cloak and ran towards the front door. Amelia ran out of the house and into the snowstorm. She never wanted to stop running, not even for one second until the castle was out of sight. Once she could not see Graywords Castle anymore, she stopped and leaned against a tall maple tree. She softly sobbed, for it was going to be a very long walk home.

**80808080808080808**

"I can't believe the audacity of that girl!" Zelgadis yelled out loud as he took his sword and sliced into a chair laying on its side. He went and glared at the white rose, the glass bell jar not yet placed back upon it. "This is your doing! I would have died already if you had not cursed me you wretched warlock! You damn bastard!"

Angrily, Zelgadis took his rapier and swung violently at the rose. Before the blade could even hit the rose, the attack was deflected. It was the enchanter who cursed him that created the barrier. He never wanted Zelgadis to ever forget what he had refused in order to turn into such a being. After trying to destroy the rose a few times, Zelgadis gave up his efforts. Hundreds upon thousands of times did he try to demolish that rose and every single time his sword was not even allowed to share air with it. Zelgadis warily sheathed his sword and looked out the window. He could see the young woman he had just yelled at running off the property. She tripped, but got right back up and continued running away.

"Am I really that much a monster?" Zelgadis softly asked himself. "Am I really that fearful to look at and be with?" Sadly, he watched Amelia run until she was out of sight. He turned around and began to walk to the door, alone once more.

Then, a thought suddenly snapped into Zelgadis's mind. The nearest village was many miles away and the surrounding area was in the middle of a blizzard. He was able to face snow just fine due to his rocky skin, yet a human...

"Amelia! She'll die out there!" he exclaimed. Zelgadis did not want Amelia to die, even if she had been going out-of-bounds. No being deserved to die frozen in a snowstorm. He too grabbed his cloak and ran off into the freezing tempest. Zelgadis knew that if he hurried, he would still be able to track and find Amelia before her trail was covered up and she died of the cold.

_I hope that I am not too late..._

**80808080808080808**

Amelia collapsed into the tree, out of breath and colder than she had ever remembered being. Her hands and feet were nearly frozen stiff from hours of running and her skin was nipped red from the vicious wind. Blowing on her nails in a futile effort to heat them, she started to cry. Was it a mistake to leave Graywords Castle? No, she put that thought directly out of her mind. One more moment with that man Zelgadis would have been the death of her. She could remember vividly his cold, enraged eyes...

His eyes! It was him in the portrait in the room. It was a painting of him as a human. Amelia could barely place the two faces together if it were not for his eyes. The eyes were like the windows to his entire being. Shame that brought her no use now, for now, she was freezing in the frigid cold air of the storm. Trying to run again, Amelia stumbled on herself and broke a tree branch as she fell. She tried to crawl back up, but the strain on her poor body was too great as she fell into the snow and everything turned black...

**80808080808080808**

Zelgadis looked all around the forest as the wind whipped at his cloak. He had been searching for Amelia for hours and the snow was just starting to die down. The wind still feverishly blew and tried to knock him down into submission, yet he pressed on. He tried to listen and search for a sign of Amelia, hoping that she was strong enough to have survived this long.

_Where are you woman?_ Zelgadis thought as he examined a broken tree branch. It was just the right height for Amelia to have pulled on and snap. It seemed to be fresh, not having been broken even half an hour ago. Desperately, he looked around in attempt to find Amelia. Then, he felt an unusual mound as he took a step in the snow.

_No._

Sure enough, Zelgadis brushed the snow off of the mound to find Amelia, unconscious and near frozen solid. She did not respond to Zelgadis's voice when he called out her name. Hurriedly, Zelgadis carried her back to the castle. She had to get warm quickly, or else...

* * *

**Author's Notes**

Lina and Gourry: I had to put them in somewhere, right?

She Calls Him 'Lord Graywords': Well, she is a proper girl, isn't she?

Is Amelia Actually Capable of Being _That _Pissed?: Yes, she is quite apt in the area of being that irritated and irked due to her sister. (-wink-) I, myself, find it fun in an odd sort of way.

Baka Amelia, Running Away In A Blizzard: Hey, she was scared!

Zelgadis Being A Psychopath: No, he's not crazy, he just hates that stupid chair. The color of the upholstery was bugging him for about forty-seven years or so.

Zelgadis Being A Softy: He can't help it. Amelia's his destined. -grins-


	3. San

Here, for everyone's total enjoyment, is the third (and longest) chapter! -_Holy Grail _cheer- Yay. The Nehszriah gets her Christmas Break from school later today when the bell rings to end fifth hour! -dances- No more school until the third of January! More time to write! Guess what's also happening? There's near a blizzard outside, just like in the story. It is snowing as if I am living in Dis! I bet that Istill don't get school off though. It's just past midnight and I already know.-twitch- Oh, since my email is being odd at the moment, I am not review replying to anyone until I get a new one or the current one is fixed. Feh. -grump- I do not own Slayers or Beauty and the Beast, for if I did, I would make so much royalty money off of them that I do not know what I would do.

* * *

Zelgadis burst into Amelia's room, carrying her limp body in her arms. She still was not moving and this was severely worrying her rescuer.

"Wake up damn it," Zelgadis muttered as he laid her down on the floor next to the cold fireplace. He quickly threw in some wood and started a fire, desperate to heat the room.

_Oh crap_, Zelgadis thought as he looked over at Amelia. Now that he could see her in the light, Zelgadis knew that she was not doing well. Her face was blotches of bitten red and sheet white. She was just barely breathing and what was worse was that her clothes were all soaked down to the skin.

Taking off his coat and rolling his white shirt sleeves to his elbows, Zelgadis pondered his predicament. He had seen a similar situation like this when he was still a small boy and his parents were alive. One of the gardeners had fallen into the freezing moat and he refused to change out of his clothes and into dry ones. The man died overnight and everyone had to wait until the spring thaw in order to bury him in a grave. The last thing Zelgadis wanted was a corpse in the house for the rest of the long mountain winter.

Zelgadis carefully picked up Amelia's wrist to check for a pulse. Her pulse was so weak that he could not find one. Startled, he looked at her chest to see if it was moving. Zelgadis's face turned red when he did, but he could barely tell if Amelia was still breathing or not.

"I really hope that she doesn't wake up suddenly," Zelgadis whispered to himself as he awkwardly put his ear up to her chest to hopefully get a heartbeat. Luckily for him, he heard one and immediately pulled away from her and almost landed in the now blazing fire.

_At least she is still alive_, was Zelgadis's thought as he got the top blanket from Amelia's bed. Gingerly he wrapped her up in the soft down-filled blanket and tried to put his plan to get Amelia warm into action. She was by the fireplace for heat, but not close enough as to catch fire. Zelgadis was planning on wrapping her up, to try to take the dress off of her so that she was not in the freezing water that was soaking her skin. The blanket was mainly so that he did not see what was under the dress. It was simply embarrassing having to take care of a woman like this having only just come into contact with her after nearly fourscore years of utter loneliness and lack of a female's presence.

Zelgadis nervously began to remove the sleeves from Amelia's shoulders, the only part of her snow-soaked that was visible. The fabric was difficult to move, for it stuck to Amelia's cold skin when he tried to move it.

"L..." Amelia moaned. Zelgadis jumped back, hands raised in defense. "L... Lord... Zelgadis?"

"What is it?" Zelgadis answered, trying his very best to sound kind. He crawled up so that he was right next to Amelia. She still appeared to be sleeping, but at least she could talk.

"Justice Punch."

"Huh?"

In an instant, Amelia's fist flew out of her blanket and into Zelgadis's chin. The act was severely unexpected, causing Zelgadis to fall backwards a slight bit. The surprised chimera looked over at Amelia. She was still fast asleep, but now her right hand was bleeding at the knuckles all over the place.

"Some reflexes you got there," Zelgadis scoffed as he exited the room, rubbing his chin repeatedly. "I can tell I won't be able to get you into anything warm now. Your funeral."

**80808080808080808**

Amelia woke up to find that she was in a very warm place. Her eyesight was blurry at first, yet then as she sat up and rubbed her eyes, she found her vision came back to her. She was back in her room at Graywords Castle. A fire was roaring in the heath, her hand was no more than a bandaged throbbing pain and she seemed to still be in the clothes she was in when she first ran away. The most peculiar part was that Zelgadis was sitting in a chair next to her bed, asleep with his head resting on her night stand.

_He saved me_, Amelia thought. It must have been. She did not remember anything after collapsing in the snow. That was the only possible explanation Amelia could come up with.

Very slowly, Zelgadis began to stir. He sat up straight, stretched and yawned deeply.

"Hello there," he said as his yawn disappeared. "You gave me quite the scare."

"Did I...?"

"Yes. You were unconscious for about two days. I was afraid that I would have a dead body in my house if you did not wake up soon."

Amelia looked at Zelgadis carefully. This was not the same man who frightened her so before she was able to touch the white rose. He seemed completely different to her now. Well, his coat was off so that his white shirt was visible with the sleeves rolled up and there was no necktie or formality whatsoever to him, which might have helped.

"I am very sorry I frightened you," he apologized, looking down at his stony hands. "I should have given you reason not to enter my chambers other than just forbidding it."

"No, no, I should not have run away," Amelia assured. "I should have known better than to try to run away in that storm. I put you in danger as well. You did not have to go and save me."

"My body is not affected by the snowy cold," Zelgadis explained. "I was just more worried about you."

Suddenly, Zelgadis felt two arms wrap about his neck as Amelia started to cry into his shoulder.

"Thank you," she said through her tears. "You saved my life."

"You're welcome," Zelgadis whispered as he embraced Amelia gingerly. It was so strange for Zelgadis to be holding a female in his arms, yet holding the weeping Amelia felt oddly right to him. Zelgadis just blew off the thought for inner peace, the quiet that Amelia seemed to bring with her presence.

**80808080808080808**

Throughout the weeks that came, Amelia was not as afraid of Zelgadis as she was when she had first seen him. She made an effort to go and see him during the day, when she would have otherwise been wandering the castle instead. They talked for many hours. Once Zelgadis discovered Amelia's love for reading and books, he showed her the library which was chock full of all different kinds of books for her to read. Amelia was awestruck by the amount of books there was and spent a good portion of her time thereafter reading those books.

One day, however, Amelia found herself to be quite fidgety and restless whilst she read in the library. It was nearing dinnertime and she wished to see Zelgadis before the meal, so she put her reading glasses in her pocket, exited the library and walked about the castle until she arrived at his chamber door.

"Lord Graywords, are you there?" she asked as she knocked gently. Carefully creaking open the door, she found that the room, even though cleaned up, was completely devoid of Zelgadis. This puzzled her, for Amelia was almost always able to find Zelgadis in his room. It was where he wrote to pass the time. He was a fairly good author in Amelia's opinion, but she was confused to why he was not writing at that moment. Amelia then began to wander the castle looking for Zelgadis. She looked in all the places she could remember him being in, yet did not discover a trace.

_I wonder where he went_, she though. Finally, Amelia decided that since she was getting hungry, she would go and search the kitchens for a light snack before dinner. She was sure that the cook would not mind. Garcia would have if Amelia was still at home, but she was not.

"Excuse me," Amelia said as she opened the door to the kitchen as she had done many times before to grab a light morsel of food. Yet, instead of an empty kitchen, or even one occupied by a chef, there was Zelgadis, coat off, sleeves rolled up and with a carrot and knife hovering over a pot of boiling water.

"Yes? What is it Amelia?" Zelgadis asked, continuing to slice the carrot into the pot of water. Amelia just looked at him, quite puzzled.

"You are the one that cooks?"

"Of course. Do you see anyone else in this kitchen?"

"No..."

"Well, I have been cooking my own food for about fifty-odd years now," Zelgadis replied frankly as he began to slice up some meat. "Let me tell you, it took near forever to figure out what all these recipe instructions meant."

"The thought just never crossed my mind," Amelia said softly. She looked over at the meat Zelgadis was chopping. "How do you get fresh food all the time?"

"I hunt during the summer, as well as stock up for the winter. On overcast days where the sun is not that bright, I go and travel to villages with my cloak hood up and buy vegetables and grains from the farmers and merchants. It is how I have survived for all these years alone.

"Would you like me to help you?" Amelia asked after a short pause. Zelgadis glanced over from a skillet.

"Sure," he chuckled. Zelgadis was amused with how eager Amelia was to assist him. Her helping out with the dinner even gave him a marvelous idea for the next day.

**80808080808080808**

Phil looked out the window of the tavern and into the desolate half-frozen wasteland surrounding him. It had been three months since Amelia had been captured by the Beast of Graywords Castle and each day that passed had brought him more and more worry. He could not eat or sleep as he normally did, having to settle for scant substitutes in their place. Phil truly was grieving over the loss of his daughter and could not even bear to think of what she encountered at the hands of the stone nobleman, for worst-case scenarios always danced though his brain instead of the thought that Amelia was alive and happy.

"Stop looking out the window like that," Lina scolded as she swept the floor by the table Phil was seated at. "You make me depressed every time you just come and sit. Don't you have some sort of hobby?"

"I know that," Phil sighed, "yet I am so worried about Amelia that I cannot help myself but to do nothing but sit. I can barely take it anymore Lina! If I go outside for too long, I'll want to go and rescue Amelia, even though the snow is far too deep for me to try to conquer."

"Just wait until the sakura blossoms come," Lina sighed. "That is when the mountain passes are clear enough so that you can go without problem and rescue your daughter. That time seems like it is going to be soon by the looks of it, since things have been warming up and..."

"Right," Phil agreed sadly, blocking out the rest of what Lina had told him. "Until the sakura blossoms come."

**80808080808080808**

Zelgadis had everything planned perfectly. It was to be a very fancy dinner for him to share with Amelia and he was dressed in the best of his suits that he could find. Amelia was to be fancied up as well and Zelgadis was hoping with all his might that Amelia would enjoy the night. He was beginning to think that he was falling in love with Amelia and wished that she at least did not mind him as much as she did when she had first arrived.

"Are you still there Amelia?" he yelled after a few minutes of waiting.

"I am coming down Lord Graywords!" Amelia called from the top of the staircase. Zelgadis could not believe his eyes when he saw her slowly walk down the stairs. She was dressed in a very formal lavender gown, a gown he had seen only seen once on one other person in his entire life. Amelia had done her hair up into an elegant bun at the back of her head, yet some of her hair that was too short for the knot hung in soft curls that gracefully framed her face. She had found some rouge and lightly applied it to her face, making her winter-pale skin seem a bit flushed with color. Amelia was such a sight, that Zelgadis could not even talk.

"What is the matter milord?" Amelia asked kindly as she reached the bottom of the stairs. Zelgadis had such a sharply shocked expression on his face that she could not help but to smile at it.

"I remember that dress," he said, red starting to uncomfortably color his own face. "That was my mother's. I remember her wearing it when I was very little. It looks as if the years have not destroyed it."

"Should I change out of it?" Amelia asked. She started to go up the stairs, yet Zelgadis lightly toucher her arm to stop her.

"No," he said. "You are perfect in it." He smiled up at her as she ascended back down the stairs. On the last step however, Amelia tripped on her heeled shoes and landed right into Zelgadis, causing them both to blush ferociously.

"Let us go eat before the dinner gets cold," Amelia suggested quickly and in a soft voice.

Zelgadis quickly agreed and led Amelia over to the dining room. There, on the table, was a large assortment of dishes that all were very delicious and Amelia could not remember when it was the last time she ate as much as she did there. She was becoming sleepy from the food and almost went to sleep in her chair, yet Zelgadis rose from his seat and walked over to her side of the table.

"May I have this dance?" he asked as he held out his hand.

"Why Lord Graywords, there is no music," Amelia giggled, briefly applying a slight accent to her voice.

"Does it matter?"

"I guess it does not," Amelia smiled as she took Zelgadis's hand and let him lead her into the magnificent ballroom. There, she gladly instructed him on how to properly dance as the teapot with a British accent started to softly sing from on top of the grand piano.

Wait, a singing British teapot? Apologies, wrong story version. In Graywords Castle, there was so such thing as a British teapot to serenade our main romantic couple as they danced. No, never, ever in a million years. Instead, there was music in severe lack, Amelia and Zelgadis were forced to dance to the silence.

That did not matter, for they would not have noticed music had it been there, nor a singing teapot for that matter. Their nocturne was not one that could be put to notes or described with words. The ballroom was quiet, yet filled with the loudest voices that could have ever been heard as Amelia and Zelgadis danced. They danced for hours, not noticing where the time went. Finally they decided to stop dancing and went outside on the terrace to sit on one of the many stone benches that lined the balcony wall. Neither one did minded the cool night air, for it had been warming up outside steadily for a few days, making the air feel warmer than it should.

"Amelia," Zelgadis asked nervously. "Are you... are you happy here with me?"

"Of course I am," Amelia said. "You are a very good man. It is only when I got to spend some time with you did I discover that. Why would you ask?"

"If you want Amelia, you can go back to your father and sister in the village," Zelgadis sighed painfully. "I warn you though, that your word alone would not change the pretenses of the villagers and they would probably still hate my very existence."

"They would listen to me," Amelia replied. "Come back to the village with me. I will show them all that you are not the vile, horrible man that you once were. Please Lord Graywords..."

"Call me Zelgadis, please..."

"You are still a lord and I am still a commoner, no matter how long you have been shut up in this castle," Amelia said sharply. Her voice then softened. "Will you come back home with me?"

"I have no wish to travel farther than the front gate unless it be for food supplies. I am truly sorry Amelia. A man made of stone is no creature people want to see walking through their village and especially with the girl he wrongly made his prisoner."

"Then I shall stay here," Amelia said gently. "I want to be here with you if you will not go to the village with me."

"Amelia..." Zelgadis whispered quietly as he stared at the woman sitting there next to him in shock and amazement. He wanted Amelia to leave if that what was to make her happy, yet she refused to leave without him. Zelgadis wanted her to be happy, yet she chose to stay in the castle with him. Slowly, he diverted his eyes from Amelia's face to the stone ground, not knowing what to think.

"Lord Zelgadis?"

"Yes...?"

"Please come with me," Amelia said, a faint smile on her lips. Zelgadis took her hand and blindly followed, trusting her and what was soon to be her decision with his very heart and soul.

**80808080808080808**

Zelgadis tossed and turned in his sleep, haunted by a chilling dream. It was the same dream that had been haunting him since his formal dinner with Amelia two weeks before. In the nightmare, he was standing in a dark hall, the voice of the red-clad enchanter who cursed him filling the air.

"_She must declare her love for you," he said. "She must vow it unconditionally."_

"_Amelia already has!" Zelgadis cried out at the corridor walls. "I cannot even count how many times she has told me she loves me since she first uttered the words! She has fallen in love with me and I with her. Why am I still stone!"_

"_Words can be hollow," the voice said. "By saying that she loves you when it could put her in danger or else risk ostracization by her loved ones, she proves that her love is truly sincere."_

"_Are you saying that my Amelia is simply a whore with false words unless she says she loves me at knife-point!"_

"_No, yet she might as well be a miserable whore until she proves her love and declares it to the perilous world."_

"_Damn it all!" Zelgadis yelled, picking up a vase and throwing it at the direction of the voice. A man's body, draped in red garments, materialized and caught the precious piece of ceramic and carefully put it down on the ground._

"_You should not be a violent being in your dreams Zelgadis Graywords," the man chuckled. "It could become your true self as you awaken. Now... wake up."_

Zelgadis bolted awake, gasping harshly for air. He was ice cold, though his brow was drenched in sweat. Gradually catching his breath, he realized that he was not in the empty hall, but safe in his own bedchamber. With a disheartened sigh, gazed down at his granite hands that shone in the moonlight pouring in from the window.

_That cursed enchanter_, he thought._ I would never allow Amelia to fall into any sort of danger, he knows that. I wish to protect her from anything harmful that could come. This would mean that I would never become human again and stay like this forever. He is making it so that I still pay, even with my love at my side!_

Trying to ebb the anger, Zelgadis looked over towards his left. There was Amelia, sleeping softly besides him. Her face was so peaceful and serene that it calmed Zelgadis down in almost an instant. Sighing, he laid back down, wrapped his arm around her protectively and went right back to sleep, dreaming of that dark corridor once more with the exception of that this time, the hall lacked the wretched enchanter and his voice continually grating on Zelgadis's nerves.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

The Awkward Moment: Spurred by XyoushaX's review. The opener where Amelia punched Zelgadis was actually considered, then discarded due to chapter length, then revived and put into the story again. Was it worth reviving in the eleventh hour or not? Please do tell.

Zelgadis Is Being Soft Again: No dur. This is based off the scene where Belle tends to the Beast's wounds in the Disney movie.

Zelgadis the Chef: I know it seems a bit corny and unrealistic, but I had to explain where all the food came from. It just bugged me. My mind was going nutters. In the original fairytale, there was no mention of any other signs of life in the castle other than Beauty and the Beast, not even from the servants, and that whole element opened doors for me.

The British Teapot of Singing Doom: Yes, that was Mrs. Potts from the _Beauty and the Beast_ Disney movie. I had to put a bit of my random humor in there. I was too utterly tempted. My younger brother (and fanfiction cohort) Zanbato wanted her in the fanfiction as an actual character, except drunk. He also wanted me to make the candelabra a crack addict and the mantel clock schizophrenic. I just laughed and immediately wrote his fantasies down. -sniggers-

Amelia's Not A Princess?: In this story... Zelgadis is the nobility. Role swap. Wh00t!

Zelgadis's Dream: Rezzo just wants to make our poor hero suffer for as long as possible with all those loopholes. Curse you loopholes! -shakes fist at air- Curse you!


	4. Shi

Yes, I realize that I updated yesterday, but this is the last chapter! It makes me sad to say so, but there is no more after this. I do not own Slayers, or Beauty and the Beast. I do, however, own my sense of humor that everyone seems to enjoy. Expect my other fictions to progress! I am out of school for two weeks! -squee- Forewarning: This chapter, some might become irritated with the Nehszriah for writing close to the movie version. Please don't be. -bows- Arigato.

* * *

"I have called this emergency meeting of the village to reinitiate the rescue mission of Phil's daughter Amelia!" Lina yelled out over the crowd of men that were gathered in the barn once more. She still stood on her soapbox so that her line of vision was above everyone else's had seemed quite pleased with herself when the village men joined voices in a joyous "Huzzah!"

"Lina, I warned you the last time," Gourry groaned from besides her. "Going out to the castle with an angry mob is not going to work. You are going to get hurt if..."

"The sakura trees are near their bloom!" Lina replied animatedly. "The mountain passes are free of snow and we have to go and save her before it is too late! Who knows what that Beast could have done to her by now!" There was an uproar of voices from those gathered around her. Gourry sighed heavily and walked out, traversing back to the tavern so that he could wearily keep watch after it alone for the evening, again.

"By holding my daughter hostage," Phil exclaimed, "he has forfeited any chance for forgiveness! He could take other girls prisoners as well! Do we want that?"

"No!" came the reply from the village men.

"Then let us go and reclaim Amelia and destroy this creature!" Lina yelled, thrusting her dagger up into the air. She jumped off her soapbox and started to walk out of the village boundaries. The men from the crowd followed her in chorus, wanting to all get in on the action.

"Will there be other monsters there?" one villager asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I want to know what we are going into," another piped in.

"We do not know," Lina said, hiding her nervousness perfectly. "This is a journey into the unknown and we all have to be prepared for anything that might come our way."

After that, a good chuck of time after was spent marching in pure silence. Not a soul wanted to breathe a word of their mission. It was not until a strange man came up to Lina and tapped her on the shoulder was anything spoken.

"Miss Inverse," he creepily grinned.

"What is it Xellos?"

"Should we sing to pass the time?"

"Not just not, but _hell _no!" Lina snapped at Xellos. The man just smiled and returned to the center of the crowd, right before breaking out into song.

"_Through the mist, through the woods, through the darkness and the shadows, it's a nightmare but it's one exciting ride_..."

"Damn it all," Lina muttered. "I think we should use him as the battering ram to break the castle door down instead of a log. He's probably just as dense..."

**80808080808080808**

Sitting down in the library, Amelia was settled with a good book and a candle for light in the dark spring evening. Her ears suddenly perked up at the faint pounding sound. She bolted from her chair and looked out the window. Down at the front door was a group of men trying to break down the door with a tree trunk battering ram. Amelia frantically ran towards the foyer hall. She could not bear to let them harm Zelgadis.

**80808080808080808**

"..._aaand fifty Frenchmen can't be wroooooong!_" Xellos sang as he swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the tree-trunk battering ram.

"Shut up! This is not a damned musical!" Lina yelled. She pushed Xellos into the wall of the castle, knocking him unconscious. The other villagers had a miniature celebration before finally forcing the door to succumb and open. Phil and Lina then immediately rushed in, leaving the rest of the others to idly wait, for they were only extras with very little purpose to the plot's actual advancement to begin with.

"I'll go this way!" Lina said as she strung her bow and ran off towards the West Wing with an arrow knocked. Phil agreed and was about to head into the East Wing until Amelia burst out into the foyer. Phil forgot about searching the castle and ran over to his daughter to embrace her.

"Daddy, please, I saw the angry villagers break down the door," Amelia said as she shoved her father away. "Don't let them kill Lord Graywords!"

"Why shouldn't I!" Phil cried angrily. "He kept you as a prisoner!"

"He has allowed me to leave!" Amelia snapped. "I have been offered my freedom many times already and I have refused every single time!"

"Amelia..." Phil squeaked, shocked at her words. "What... what has that creature done with you?"

"He has shown me who he really is!" Amelia said, slowly backing away. "He is a good man. Lord Graywords is a good, decent, kindhearted man!"

"You don't know what you are saying," Phil replied frantically. "That... _creature_ is nothing more than a savage beast!"

"Daddy... you're wrong!" He is not a beast or a monster..."

"Amelia," Phil pleaded, holding Amelia at arm's length. "Do you love him?"

Amelia did not answer him. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran off into the West Wing, despite her father's pleas to get her to stay. She simply had to find Zelgadis and warn him before her father could get to him.

_Lord Graywords_, she thought. _I cannot let you die. I... I..._

"Amelia!" Zelgadis called out, bursting from a door further down the hall. He rushed towards her. "The castle is being invaded!"

"It is my father!" Amelia wept as they met by a window. "He brought the villagers with him. They want to kill you!"

"Oh Amelia..." Zelgadis started. Instead of finishing his sentence, Zelgadis collapsed and let out a deafening scream of sheer pain. A metal arrow had been lodged deep into his lower shoulder, quite close to his heart. Blood gushed everywhere. Amelia shrieked in terror. She knew of only one person in the entire village with the skill and equipment to even think about piercing through stone.

"Amelia! Run!" Lina yelled as she ran over towards the wounded Zelgadis. In a fluid movement, she put away her bow and drew a dagger from its sheath on her belt.

"No Miss Lina!" Amelia yelled, stepping between her injured lover and the tavern owner. "Please don not kill him!" She tried to hold Lina back, but Lina held Amelia by the forearm and jerked her back to look into her eyes.

"You do not understand," Lina spat. Amelia winced as Lina's grip became unconsciously stronger. "This is for your own protection, as well as the rest of the villagers'."

"Miss Lina," Amelia groaned as she tried to break the grip on her arm. The arm seemed to be squeezed tighter and together until it suddenly released. Amelia looked to see Zelgadis was holding Lina in the air by her throat, a protective fire in his eyes.

"Don't you dare hurt her," Zelgadis hissed. He was so angry that he appeared half-possessed. Without any inclination for her safety, Zelgadis tossed Lina aside like a rag doll and she flew into the window, shattering it and falling onto the roof.

"Lord Graywords!" Amelia cried. "Miss Lina could fall!"

"She..."

"Miss Lina cannot die!" Amelia protested, cutting Zelgadis off. "She is not a bad person! She doesn't know how good you are!"

Zelgadis felt horrible. He did not really want to rescue Lina, yet his heart said that he had to for Amelia's sake. So, he jumped out of the window and onto the slightly sloped rooftop to find Lina. The sky had grown so dark, that even the moon's wan light was blocked out by the clouds, making it all the more difficult for Zelgadis to find Lina. When he found her, she was lying spread-eagle and settled precariously on the edge of the roof, nearly falling off and down into the water-filled moat surrounding the castle.

_Hmm... she appears to be unconscious_, Zelgadis thought as he reached for Lina's body. He was almost able to grip her shoulder when Lina's eyes snapped open and she quickly reached out and clasped onto Zelgadis's forearm.

"Don't think you can deceive me that easily," Lina cackled. She shifted her weight and threw Zelgadis onto a lower section of the roof.

"Miss Lina!" Amelia yelled. It was useless to shout, for Lina had already dropped down to the level of rook Zelgadis had landed on, becoming out of an earshot.

_Miss Lina, don't kill him_, Amelia thought as she ran down the hall towards where she could hopefully reach Lina and Zelgadis. There was a balcony close by where the were standing and hopefully Amelia could make it there in time to stop Lina from killing Zelgadis.

**80808080808080808**

"You will pay for holding Amelia prisoner," Lina snarled as she hovered over Zelgadis as he lay in anguish from the fall and the metal arrow still in his back. Lina forcefully yanked the arrow out from Zelgadis's back and put it, still bloodied, in the quiver on her back.

"Do you like my specially made arrows?" Lina smirked evilly. "They were made to take down big game. You're truly big game my friend."

"Please stop this," Zelgadis moaned in pain as Lina reached for her dagger.

"Begging for forgiveness are we?" Lina laughed darkly. "How sweet. Shame I can see through your act, yet Amelia cannot. Where did she ever get the idea that you were actually still a human after all those years of spiteful solitude?"

"You do not know me," Zelgadis spat as he struggle to get up. His breathing was weighted and he was only barely able to reach his hands and knees before collapsing again. "Amelia knows how I really am. She knows the true me."

"A rude, spoiled, prick of a man is what my great-grandmother always said you were," Lina sneered. "She was even your servant before your curse was put upon you. '_Lord Zelgadis Graywords_,' she used to say, '_was a cold-hearted wretch of a man who never cared about anyone or anything except his own damned self._' Does that sound a bit familiar you broken lord?"

Zelgadis looked up at Lina as she caressed the dagger in her hand. She held it with distinct familiarity, letting him know that she could use the short metal blade properly. For the first time in his life, Zelgadis was truly afraid of someone and what they could do to him. He was too weak from the fall and arrow wound in order to fight back and Lina appeared as if she were going to deliver the final blow to kill him any second now. Lina raised her arm with the dagger and prepared herself for the kill.

"Goodbye," Lina said blandly. She thrust down the dagger, yet stopped when interrupted by a familiar sound.

"Miss Lina!" Amelia called out. Lina looked over to see Amelia running across the roof, an open windowpane blowing about in the slight breeze behind her. After almost tripping on her own feet, Amelia made it over to Zelgadis and Lina, putting herself protectively in front of the wounded chimera.

"Amelia, move," Lina ordered.

"No! You can't hurt Lord Graywords!" Amelia cried.

"We went through this already," Lina sighed. "He is a creature that needs to meet his end! Why can you not understand that!"

"Because... because..." Amelia said. She could not continue because she was choking up with tears.

"Move Amelia," Lina said as she tried to shove Amelia away. Lina then tried to stab Zelgadis again, yet stopped when Amelia put herself in the way of the dagger by holding onto Lina's wrist.

"Amelia!"

"I love him Miss Lina!" Amelia cried as she struggled against the force in Lina's arm. "I love Lord Graywords!"

"You can't possibly..."

"I do! I don't care that he is made of stone! I love him!" Amelia sobbed. Frightened, Lina started to back away, a horrified look plastered on her now-gaunt face.

_How could Amelia love him?_ Lina asked herself as she stepped away. _Amelia, was this entire venture to rescue you for nothing? Don't you care about your father and sister and want to go back to them? Amelia...?_

Lina gasped. She had stepped too far and was beginning to loose her balance at the edge of the roof.

"Miss Lina!" Amelia yelled as she rushed over to her friend. She tried to reach Lina to keep her from falling off the edge, but she was too late. Lina lost balance and fell off the edge of the roof, her eyes fearfully looking up at Amelia as she fell through the air and into the moat surrounding the castle. Within seconds of her going under, Lina's head broke the surface of the water as she gasped for air.

"Oh, Miss Lina," Amelia sniffled as she saw that her friend was going to be okay. It made her morse to think about how Lina reacted to her saying that she loved Zelgadis. Lina had seemed utterly appalled, just like her father.

Amelia looked around to face Zelgadis, who was laying on his back. She let out a small yelp when she discovered that her Zelgadis was glowing a soft opalescent hue.

"Lord Graywords!" she yelled as she ran over to him and knelt down besides him. "Lord Graywords! What is happening?"

"You set me free," Zelgadis barely whispered. The wound in his back had let out so much blood, that he was laying in a pool of the stuff. All of the precious blood that had been lost made him groggy and it very difficult to even keep his eyes open. "Now that I am free, I can be human again and die in peace."

"Die...? Lord Graywords! You can't die!" Amelia cried as she shook Zelgadis's shoulders. It was no use. He did not answer her. "Lord Graywords! ... Lord Zelgadis! ... Zelgadis! ... Wake up Zelgadis! I LOVE YOU!"

As if her words were the magic incantation needed, which in all actuality they were, the light that was being emitted by Zelgadis's body burst into a blinding flash of light. The light coming from Zelgadis lit up the sky. Lina could see it, Phil could see it from inside the castle, the extras playing a game of Egyptian Rat Screw at the castle door could see it... hell, even Gourry and Garcia at the tavern in town could see it and they were even a couple of miles away! Well, Garcia could not see that well because she was drunker than a skunk, yet that is a different story entirely.

**80808080808080808**

Back at the castle, Amelia was so overcome with the light that she could not see. She knew that Zelgadis was there in the center of the burst of light, yet everything in her vision was blurred due to the light. Finally, after a few heart-racing moments, the light had died down until it was not even a glow anymore and Zelgadis lay there on the flat roof as still as a corpse. Carefully, Amelia blindly inched over towards Zelgadis and nudged his shoulder with utmost caution.

"Lord Graywords...?" she asked softly, wondering about what could have happened. Her eyes were not quite adjusted to the dark night yet when Zelgadis slowly sat up and moaned in pain.

"What in the world...?" he muttered. Looking over at Amelia, he could remember all that had just happened. Zelgadis remembered her protecting him from her friend who put an arrow in his back, how that friend fell off the roof and the horror upon Amelia's face when he said that he was free from the curse and was going to die. It felt like death anyways. Looking over at Amelia, Zelgadis could tell that she could not yet see him clearly. She could not yet see what had happened to him. Her face was blank, red from tears and waiting patiently for her eyes to adjust to the lack of light. Without thinking, Zelgadis drew Amelia in quickly and kissed her, not even letting her react to the touch of his transformed skin.

Zelgadis was human again.

"Amelia!" Phil yelled as he jumped out the nearby window and onto the roof by his daughter and her lover. The torch he held illuminated the rooftop as he discovered Amelia kissing a man that he could not recollect seeing before that moment. His daughter and the stranger stopped upon his entry and looked embarrassedly surprised. "Amelia, who is this?"

"This is Lord Graywords," Amelia answered sheepishly. Phil came closer with the torch to make sure that his eyes were still working. The man in front of him was not the steely-eyed stone beast that threw him into a dank tower for unknowingly stealing a rose, but it was a man in bloodstained clothes that were torn in numerous places who had black hair and the only color on his pale skin was that of his excessive blushing from being caught kissing Amelia. It was very difficult for Phil to even imagine that this was the same man that he had feared so much.

"I am sorry that you found me kissing your daughter sir," Zelgadis apologized, wanting to get on Phil's good side. His eyes found the ground as he nervously continued. "Yet these past few months, I have fallen in love with Amelia and care about her more than you ever could dream. I would like your permission to marry her."

All Phil could do was let out a smile that went from ear to ear.

_Soon after, Zelgadis and Amelia were married. They were a happy couple and lived each day in bliss. The new Lady hired servants to help take care of the castle, yet Amelia and Zelgadis always pitched in to truly show their appreciation. The countryside that had fallen into ruin during Zelgadis's curse became beautiful and fruitful again and all rumors that had gone about that concerned Lord Graywords and his castle soon dissolved and peace reigned throughout the land. The white rose that the red-clad enchanted had given Zelgadis in reminder of his curse died and withered away into nothing, proving that love can conquer even the strongest and oddest of magics.

* * *

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**Author's Notes**

Xellos's Singing: These are lines taken from the "Kill the Beast" song in Disney's movie. Please do not hurt me, for I said that I would parody the movie from the very beginning! Everyone has to admit that Xellos singing Gaston's lines is funny, especially the last line. I don't care who you are, the Frenchmen bit is humorous.

Lina vs. Zelgadis: Oh, yeah. Definitely Gaston vs. Beast parody right there.

Lina Falling In the Moat: Why should I kill her? This made me feel better than flat-out killing her. At least she gets to go back to Gourry in the end. -imagines spin-off fiction-

Egyptian Rat Screw: One of the best card games _ever_! -slaps desk-

The Blinding Light: That is my dreadful rip-off of the Beast's transformation. It was a really cool scene to watch though.

The Ending: Craptastic, I know. Love stories like this are hard to give an ending. Please understand.

Reviewers: I would like to thank you all for reviewing and reading. You guys are the best.


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